Packaging machine



June 5, 1951 s. H. RHODES ETAL 7 PACKAGING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed June 'e, 1945 NW M \N Q Q o av k W .r 1 c q w w F h v Q W WA/Q FQVr m C. h A

INVENTORS 6.H- RHODES 8( Y R.C. LANG June 5, 1951 s. H. RHODES ETAL.mcmmc mum:

6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 6, 1945 I: In:- niiln-liini-lii I I ii'l1.1.1.] I.

6 N m u 0. m m v 5 T MD T 0 H R M 6 J1me 1951 r G. H'. RHQDES ETAL2,555,816 .ncmmc MACHINE Filed June 6, 1945 e Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTQRSG.H. RHODES & R.c. LA NG ORNEY INVENTORS 4G.H.RHODE$ K RC. LANG BY A7!ORN 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Q wk MN 3 .QN mm L G. H. RHODES ETAL PACKAGINGMACHINE June 5, 1951 Filed June 6, 1945 June 1951 G. H. RHODES ETAL2,555,816

.PAcxAcmc MACHINE Filed June 6, 1945 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORS6.H.RHODE5 X ROLANG Patented June 1951 PACKAGING MACHINE George H.Rhodes, Jackson Heights, and Rudolph C. Lang, New York, N. Y., assignorsto National Biscuit Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewJersey Application June 6, 1545, Serial No. 597,918

19 Claims.

Our invention pertains to packaging machines and has for one of itsimportant objects to effect automatic packaging of biscuit, crackers andother articles in a carton, box, or other package in a faced, stacked orother orderly arrangement.

Heretofore, automatic packing of biscuit, such as soda crackers, has notbeen practicable except in the case of dump-filled packages. There aretwo major problems involved in automatic packing, first to measure offand segregate a quantity of the product to properly fill the package,and second to insert this quantity into the package without damage toeither the product or the package. Soda crackers raise in baking tovarying amounts and in raising develop bl'istered tops which results inconsiderable variations in thickness of-di1ierent crackers and invarious parts of the same cracker. The measuring device must be able toseparate a proper quantity to fit the length of package with su-ificientadjustability to give a reasonable control of the weight without leavingthe package too tightly or too loosely packed which would result indamage to the product in handling and shipping.

It is usual practice in packaging biscuit, such as cookies, snaps, sodacrackers, wafers and the like to arrange them in continuous rows orstacks after they are discharged from the oven, and as they approach thepacking table or machine. The stacks or rows are carried by continuouslyor intermittently driven belts to the packing station where a suitablequantity is measured off from the head of a stack and placed in thecarton or container, either by hand or by machine. Prior machines forthis purpose operate satisfactorily only when the biscuit are quiteuniform in thickness and have fairly smooth surfaces, such, for example,as ginger snaps and graham crackers. However, in the case of biscuit ofirregular surface and varying thickness, such as soda crackers, nomachine for automatically packaging them has been practicableheretofore.

An important object of our invention, therefore, is to measure off andsegregate successive suitable unit lengths or volumes of crackers from acontinuous stack, and to deliver these units in such manner as requiredfor insertion into cartons.

Another important object is to provide a means for supplying cartons inproper quantity and in a manner such as to make possible the inserti'onof the above segregated units into them.

Another object is to provide a packaging machine wherein definitevolumes of articles are successively measured oil from the leading endof a continuously moving stack and inserted into cartons moving in acontinuous line parallel theretowithout change in the speed of eitherthe articles or cartons.

Still another object is to provide a packaging machine that willautomatically and with certainty measure off a unit volume of more orless irregular articles, such as soda crackers, from the leading end ofa continously moving stack sumcient to fill a carton within allowablelimits and insert each unit into a carton by moving it laterally intothe carton, while both the carton and unit are moving forward with thestack.

The above and other valuable advantages are attained by our invention asillustrated in the accompanying drawings to which attention is nowdirected.

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing in side elevation the invention in skeletonform.

Figs. 2 and 202 show the invention in top plan on a somewhat largerscale than Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 3a are elevations, partly in section, of Figs. 2 and 2arespectively, taken substantially on lines 3-3 and 3a--3a.

Fig. 4 is a view, somewhat enlarged, of the right hand end of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 and 6 are plan and side views respectively of the left hand endof Figs. 2a and 3a, with Fig. 6 partly in section on line 6-5 of Fig. 5.

Figs. '7 and 8 are plan and side views respectively of the right handend of Figs. 2a and 3a, with Fig. 8 partly in section on line 3 -8 ofFig. 7.

Figs. 9 and 10 are detail views of one of the box or arrow flights.

Figs. 11 and 12 are views similar to Fig. 7, with the parts in differentstages of operation.

Figs. 13 and 14 are sectional views taken substantially on lines l3-l3and l4l4 01 Fig. 11.

Our invention is adapted to package automatically biscuits of all kindsthat are faced, stacked or placed in orderly arrangement in thecontainers. In the embodiment that we have se lected for illustration,we have adaptedit to filling a box approximately 8 inches long thatcontains approximately 4 ozs. of crackers in a single stack.

Reference is made first to Fig. 1 for a brief general description of theoperation of the machine. An endless chain 2% passing around sprockets2i, 22 carries a number of box flights 23 spaced apart a distance equalto the length of a box 24 that is to be filled with biscuit. A secondchain 25 passing around sprockets 26, 2'! has its upper run parallel tothe upper run of chain 23 and carries a number of biscuit c- \9 flights23, adapted to receivea unit stack of biscuit between each adjacent pairsuflicient to fill one box. The flights 23, 28 are spaced the samedistance center to center on their respective chains and are in exactalignment on their parallel upper runs. Biscuit are fed in a continuousstack to the left end of a belt 29 passing over guide pulleys 30, st, 32and driven by a drum 33. The belt 29 delivers the biscuit to a meteringdevice shown as a pair of wheels 34, 35 between which the biscuit mustpass standing on edge. At least one of the wheels, preferably wheel 35has either a sponge rubber face or floating suspension so that it yieldsto accommodate slight variations in the height of the biscuit. Themetering wheels deliver the bi..- cuit to rails 35 along which theyarepushed until they are intercepted and measured into desired quantitiesby the flights 28. The peripheral speeds of the wheels 3%, 35 are equaland are adjusted so that they will feed the biscuit to the rails 36 justfast enough to fill the spaces between successive flights. Soft rubberpusher rolls 3?, 3B or other suitable mechanism gently press anyprojecting biscuit down between the flights.

3?: represents the delivery end of a carton chute or feeder that feedsan empty box, lying .on its side with its open face turned toward thealong by-the box flights until they tip over to upright position on aconveyor 42 by which they are carried to the wrapping and sealingmachine. The box flights then pass downward around sprocket 22. It willthus be seen that the crackers and boxes move along at uniform speedfrom the point where they enter between pairs of flights 28 and 23 untilthe biscuit are fully in the boxes. There are no reciprocating parts orother mechanisms that have to be accurately timed and alternately movedand brought to rest.

This uniform motion and the omission of reciprocating and timingmechanisms contributes to high speed and accuracy of operation.

Reference is now made to Figs. 2 to 4 for a detailed description of theinvention. Figs. 2 and 2a are complementary views, together constitutinga plan of the entire machine. Likewise, Figs. 3 and 3a are complementarysectional views corresponding to Figs. 2 and 2a. The biscuit are omittedfrom Figs. 2 and 2a so as not to conceal parts of the machine, but areshown in Figs. 3 and 3a. The biscuit 43 are fed continuously from astacker or other means (not shown) to the left-hand end of belt 29between side rails 14. The belt carries the biscuit forward to themetering wheels 34, 3%, the surface speed of the belt being keptslightly greater,

about 2 to than the surface speed of the metering wheels. Thiscompensates for occasional gaps in the line of biscuit and assures aconstant supply to the metering device. In case the belt continues foran extended period to supply the biscuit faster than the metering devicecan receive them, the belt will slip under the crackers, or the operatormay adjust the speed 7 while the flights move 8 /2 inches.

of the belt relative to the metering device by any shown in Fig. 4, toprevent its slipping with respect to the biscuit and the wheel 35 has asponge rubber face or yieldable mounting to accommodate variations inthe biscuit. The distance between the faces of the two wheels isslightly less, about 1-..- to A; inch, than the vertical width of thebiscuit, so that the biscuit either indent the sponge rubber slightly orthroughthe yielding of the wheel 35 are gripped between the wheels. Thisassures a uniform feed of the biscuit through the meter. The wheel 35lifts the biscuit slightly and delivers them to a pair of rails 36,between which the wheel extends, the latter being narrower than thehiscuit.

The rails 36 terminate in inclined portions at between which the flights'28 are carried by chain 25 with their pointed ends entering betweenadjacent biscuit so as to intercept or measure off from the stack theright volume of biscuit to flll a carton. In the case chosen forillustration, the flights are spaced 8 inches center to center on thechain 25 and they are inch thick so that the space between adjacentflights is 8 inches, equal to the inside length of the carton to befilled. The speed of the meter is such that a length of biscuit justsufficient to properly fill the carton, or approximately 8 inches, isfed to the rails 36 for each flight interval. The biscuit G3 are movingforward on rails 35, 56 at the rate of approximately 8 inches per flightinterval, This causes a loosening up of the biscuit within the areaindicated at 41, Figs. 3 and 4, where the two left-hand flights 28 areabout to measure off a length or unit of biscuit. The point of the leftflight 28 may come up between two biscuit or it may strike anywherewithin the thickness of a biscuit. If the flight is directly under abiscuit, the latter usually will go forward of the flight because thebiscuit are looser in the forward direction and thespace, 8 /2 incheslong, between the points of flights has to accommodate onlyapproximately 8 inches. If less than a half a biscuit is forward of theentering flight, the biscuit will fall to the rear. If more thanone-half biscuit is forward of the point of the flight, it will take itsposition in the stack ahead. As the biscuit move down the inclines -46,they settle or snuggle down between the flights substantially fillingthe free space of 8 inches. Sometimes, the biscuit are so rough orblistered, especially in the case of soda crackers, that they do notsettle down freely of their own weight, but one or more may projectslightly. In order to be sure that all biscuit lie uniformlybetween theflights, we provide a pusher which may take the form of two or morewheels 31, 38 having sponge rubber faces. These wheels or other suitablemechanism successively engage any projecting biscuit and gently pressthem down between flights. The wheel38 is slightly lower than wheel 31so that the pressing action is gradual in case a biscuit projects veryfar out of line. An inclined pusher may be used, but this causesfriction On the biscuit. We have found the pusher wheels to be moregentle and certain in their action than a stationary inclined member,and prefer to drive the wheels so that their peripheral speed equals theforward speed of the 5 biscuit. This avoids all rubbing on the biscuitand prevents formation of crumbs.

The inclined rails 46 terminate at a flat table or frame made in partfrom two angular members 48, 48 spaced apart to provide a slot 39 inwhich reduced portions or necks 5!} of the biscuit flights 28 run. Thisis best shown in Figs. 13 and 14. The biscuit are disposed centrallybetween the flights, but in order to plow or push them laterally intothe boxes, they are first displaced from their central position. This isbest shown in Figs. 2a and 5. Inclined lateral guides 5!, 52 beyond thepusher wheel 38 press the biscuit to one side of the flights just beforethey come opposite the box flights 23, that receive the'boxes 24 fromthe chute 3d. Y

Each flight 28 has a deep slot 53 into which the inclined plow 4|extends progressively to plow the. biscuit from between the flights intothe adjacent boxes 24. This is best shown in Figs. 5, 13 and 14.

As shown in Figs. 13 and 14, two angular bars T1, 18 forming part of theframe or table extend under the box delivery chute as and are spacedapart to leave a slot 54 in which the reduced necks 55 of the boxflights 23 travel.

Referring now to Figs. 2a, 3a, 5 and 6, the flights 23 as they round thesprocket 2! come up under the box delivery chute The boxes 24 areinclined in this chute so that the rear end of the lowest box rests onbars 7?, it over slot 5.4. The length of the boxes is substantiallyequal to the distance between flights so. that they have a reasonablyclose fit between adjacent flights. As a flight 23 comes up aroundsprocket 2| and its neck 55 is about to enter slot 54., but before itattains a vertical position, it engages the rear end of the lowest boxas in the chute and at the same time the preceeding flight that has beenunder the box rides out from under it and lets it drop down betweenflights. At that time, the distance between the tops of the flights ismore than eight inches, due to the rearward inclination of the rearflight, so that the box can drop down freely. As the rear flightcompletes its travel around sprocket 21, it becomes vertical at the topof the sprocket, and the box is held snugly between the flights. The boxis then carried forward from under the box above and the rear flight orthe rear end or the advancing box holds up the next above box until itcan drop down into the next flight space. The. boxes have an open sidewhich facestoward the biscuit flights 28, which are in exact alignmentwith the box flights and moving parallel thereto at the same speed. Ateach end of its open side, each box 24 has a lip 53 that flaresoutwardslightly and lies within a notch formed by a barb 5! formed oneach side of the arrow head ends of the flights 23. The barbed heads andlips 56 provide guides for directing the biscuit units into the boxes.

Hinged guide bars 58 keep the top sides of the boxes from bowing upwardand a rear guide 59; prevents their displacement rearwardly when thebiscuit units are pushed therein.

The flights 2 3 travelvery close to the flights 2-3; but thereis-necessarily some space between flights and; a greater space betweenthe .open faces of the boxes and the innermost face of the inclinedplowM. The notches 53 cannot extend allthe way through the flights 28,so the plow the biscuit fully into the boxes, we provide a pressercomprising a presser disc 65 and prcsser foot Bl Which come intooperation following the plow.

. The presser disc 6!] is fixed to a vertical shaft 62 (Figs. 7, 8, 11,12, 14) driven by bevel gears 63 from a counter shaft 64, which isdriven from the shaft 65 carrying the sprocket 21. The peripheral speedof the disc 60 equals the speed of the biscuit and it is located so thatits edge substantially coincides with the plane of the open side of theboxes, so that as the boxes are carried past it, it gently rolls againstthe biscuit and presses them fully into the successive boxes. The dischas two cut-outs or notches 1|, 12 into which the flights 28 and thepoints of flights 23 enter as they pass. The leading edges 13, 14 ofthese notches are sharp and will engage the last cracker of each groupadjacent its flight 23 and press it fully into the box, 12. But, becausethe notches 1!, 72 are wider than the flights, the trailing edges 15, 16cannot engage the first biscuit of each group. The presser foot 6|pushes this first biscuit fully into each box. On the under face of disc60 are two cams 65, 61 adapted alternately to engage and swing outwardlyone end of a lever 68 pivoted to the frame at 69 and at its other endhaving the presser foot 6|. A tension spring it normally pulls thepresser foot from the biscuit. The cams 66, 67 are timed to engage lever68 and press the foot 6| inward so that it will just clear each flight23, as shown in Fig. 12. The forward end of presser foot 6| is turned.up so that the foot, as it remains in contact with the biscuit for ashort interval while lever 53 is engaged by one of the cams, will notinjure any of the biscuit.

The bars 38, 43' form a table or biscuit slide on which the biscuit restas they are carried along between flights 28 and are pushed into theboxes by the plow d! and presser 69. This slide terminates substantiallyin line with the axis of sprocket 2"! (Figs. 7 and 8). At this point thebiscuit are entirely in boxes, or substantially so, and the boxes 24 arestill being carried along on the box slides 71, 18 between adjacent boxflights 23. The bar or slide member I8 terminates at 19 while the slideTl ends at 89 above the axis of sprocket 22. From 11 to 80, the box.fully loaded. with biscuit is supported only by slide 11. When the rearend of a filled box clears the end 19, it is unstable on slide l! andturns over to fall on the plate 8! which is slightly below slide l'l'.The filled boxes are pushed along on plate 8| by the flights 23 untilthey reach the conveyor 42, as best shown in Figs. '7 and 8. The guiderails 58, 59 terminate at or slightly before the end 19 of slide '18. Anidler 82, Figs. 3a and 6, is adapted to adjust the tension in the chain25. The slide ll, 18 on which the boxes slide are slightly below the topof the table 43, G8 on which the biscuit slide, so that the edges of theboxes will not present an obstruction to the lateral movement of thebiscuit, as best shown in Figs. 13 and '14.

When packaging many kinds of biscuit and other articles, the presserfoot BI is not necessary because articles which may be projectingslightly from the box, will drop all the way in when the box is tiltedover and drops the short distance to plate at.

As best shown in Fig. 5, the rear guide 59 is inwardly inclined adjacentthe chute 39 to press the boxes laterally so that the lips 56 engagebehind the barbs 51 22 and2l, so that the chains 20 and 25 are driven atthe same speed.

From the foregoing it will be seen that our invention provides a machinefor automatically measuring off definite quantities of fragile articles,that may be of varying thickness, from a continuously moving stack andinserting the measured quantities in boxes without altering the speed ofthe stack and without the use of reciprocating arts which wouldinterefere with 'opcrating at high speed, with accuracy and certainty.

The foregoing is but illustrative of one form of ou invention and not alimitation thereon.

It may be embodied in many vforms andadaptations. We claim all such thatmay come withi the scope or intent of our claims. What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the class described, the

combination of a continuously driven conveyor adapted to carry acontinuous row of articles stacked on edge, a second conveyor having anumber of flights spaced apart thereon, the receiving end of said secondconveyor being adjacent the delivery end of said first conveyor, ametering device adapted to receive the articles on edge from the firstconveyor and deliver them to the second conveyor, said metering devicecomprising a pair of wheels spaced apart a distance slightly less thanthe height of the stacked articles, and between which the articles pass,one of said wheels being yieldable, th peripheral speeds of said wheelsbeing equal and of such magnitude that the length of the stack ofarticles metered therethrough in a given time interval shall be thelinear amount required to properly fill the space between flights on thesecond conveyor which pass in the same time interval, and means fordriving said conveyors and metering wheels continuously.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of acontinuously driven conveyor adapted to carry a row of articles stackedon edge, a pair of metering wheels spaced apart a distance slightly lessthan the height of the stacked articles to which the conveyor deliverssaid articles, one bisaid wheels being yieldable so that it may yieldas, the articles pass between them, a pair of rails spaced apart towhich the metering wheels deliver the stacked articles and push themal0ng, said rails being inclined downward at their delivery ends, atable to one end of which the rails deliver the articles, said tablehaving a slot extending its full length and beyond one end of which theinclined rails extend so that the rails and table overlap in part, asprocket beneath the overlapping ends of the table and rails and inalignment with said slot, an endlesschain conveyor passing around saidsprocket and having its upper run beneath said slot, spaced flights secured to saidconveyor and on its upper run extending through said slotand over said table, the inclined ends of said rails being spaced apartso that the flights can pass between them, said flights being wider thanthe table slot and each having a reduced neck that enters into saidslot, said flights being reduced in thickness at their upper edgeswhereby each flight as it enters between the inclined portions of therails will measure off a definite length from the stacked articlesthereon to flll the space between adjacent flights, and means fordriving said metering wheels and chain conveyor continuously at suchrelative speeds that the metering wheels will deliver the stackedarticles to the rails at a rate to fill the space between adjacentflights. n 3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of acontinuously driven conveyor adapted to carry a row of articles stackedon edge, a

pair of metering wheels spaced apart a distance slightly less than theheight of the stacked articles to which the conveyor delivers saidarticles, one of said wheels being yieldable so that it may yield as thearticles pass between them,-a pair of rails spaced apart to which thewheels deliverthe stacked articles and push them along, said rails beinginclined downward at their delivery ends, a table to one end of whichthe rails deliver the articles, said table having a slot extending itsfull length and beyond one end of which the inclined rails extend sothat the rails and table overlap in part, a sprocket beneath theoverlapping ends of the table and rails and in alignment with said slot,an endless chain conveyor passing around said sprocket and having itsupper run beneath said slot, spaced flights secured to said conveyor andon its upper run extending through said slot and over said table, theinclined ends of said rails being spaced apart so that the flights canpass between them, said flights being wider than the table slot and eachhaving areduced neck that enters into said slot, said'flights beingreduced in thickness at their 'upper edges whereby each flight as itenters between theirrclined portions of the rails will measure off ,adefinite length from the stacked articles thereon to fill the spacebetween adjacent flights, means for driving said metering wheels andchain conveyor continuously at such relative speeds that th meteringwheels will deliver the stacked articles to the rails at a rate to fillthe spaces between adiacent flights, each flight having a slit thereinwhich is above the table on its upper run,

said slit extending nearly across the flight, an in clined plow securedto the table in alignment with said slits, said plow being spaced fromthe flights at one end and progressively entering into said slits in thedirection of travel of the flights whereby the articles between theflights are pushed laterally therefrom.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of acontinuously driven conveyor adapted to carry a row of articles stackedon edge, a pair of metering wheels spaced apart a distance slightly lessthan the height of the stacked articles to which the conveyor deliverssaid articles, one of said wheels being yieldable so that it may yieldas the articles pass between them, a pair of rails spaced apart to whichthe wheel deliver the stacked articles and push them its upper runbeneath said slot, spaced flights seasses 1e cured to said conveyor andon its upper run extending through saidslot and over said table, theinclined ends of said rails being spaced apart so that the flights canpass between them, said flights being wider than the table slot and eachhaving a reduced neck that enters into said slot, said flights beingreduced in thickness at their upper edges whereby each flight as itenters between the inclined portions of the rails will measure off adefinite length from the stacked articles thereon to fill the spacesbetween adjacent flights,

means for driving said metering wheelsand chain conveyor continuously atsuch relative speeds that the metering wheels will deliver the stackedarticles to the rails at a rate to fill the spaces between adjacentflights, and means for pushing the articles from between the flightsduring their travel along the table.

5. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table having twoparallel slots therein, an endless conveyor beneath each slot and eachhaving a number of spaced flights which on their upper runs extendthrough the respective slots and above the table, the flights on the twoconveyors being spaced equidistant and being .in alignment above thetable, means for filling the successive spaces between flights on oneconveyor with stacks of articles, means for placing a box in each spacebetween successive flights on the other conveyor, means for driving saidconveyors in the same direction and at the same speed whereby saidstacks of articles will be carried along the table opposed to therespective boxes, and a fixed camming member for pushing the stacks ofarticles laterally into the boxes.

6. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table, two parallelendless conveyors beneath the table, one of said conveyors having anumber of article flights thereon which on their upper run extend abovethe table, means for filling the spaces between flights as they begintheir upper run with measured groups of articles stacked on edge, thesecond conveyor having a number of box flights thereon which on theirupper run extend above the table, the box flights being spaced apart thesame distance as the article flights and in alignment therewith abovethe table, means for placing an empty box to fill the space between eachtwo box flights as they start their upper run, means for driving saidconveyors in the same direction and at the same speed, whereby eachgroup of articles is carried along the table opposed to an empty box,each article flight having a horizontal slit extending across it abovethe table with its open end away from the box flights, and an inclinedplow on the table adapted to enter said slits and progressively push thegroups of articles from the article flights into the boxes as theytravel along the table.

'7. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table, two parallelendless conveyors beneath the table, one of said conveyors having anumber of article flights thereon which on their upper run extend abovethe table, means for filling the spaces between flights as they begintheir upper run with measured groups of articles stacked on edge, thesecond conveyor ha ing a number of box flights thereon which on theirupper run extend above the table, the box flights being spaced apart thesame distance as the article flights and in alignment therewith abovethe table, means for placing an empty box to fill the space between eachtwo box flights as they start their upper run, means for driving saidconveyors in the same direction and at the same speed, whereby eachgroup of articles is carried along the tableopposed to an empty box,each article flight having a horizontal slit extending across it abovethe table with its open end away from the box flights, an inclined plowon the table adapted to enter said slits and progressively push thegroups or" articles from the article flights into the boxes as theytravel along the table, and a presser beyond the plow for pressing thearticles fully into the boxes.

8. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table having alongitudinal slot therein, 'a pair of inclined rails leading to one endof said table on opposite sides of said slot, an endless conveyor chainbeneath said table having its upper run beneath and parallel to saidslot, a sprocket under said rails and the adjacent end of said tablearound which said chain passes, a number of flights connected to saidchain and on its upper run extending above the table, said flightshaving reduced necks which on the upper run travel in said slot, saidflights being wider than said slot above the table and passing betweensaid inclined rails at the beginning of their upper run, means fordriving said chain and flights continuously at uniform speed, and meansfor supplying a continuous row of articles stacked on edge to saidinclined rails, said means including a pair of yieldable wheels spacedapart a distance slightly less than the height of the stacked articlesand between which the articles are moved to elfect their proper spacingwhereby as each flight passes between the rails a definite length of thestacked articles will be measured off between it and the next precedingflight at the beginning of their upper run.

9. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table having alongitudinal slot therein, a pair of inclined rails leading to one endof said table on opposite sides of said slot, an endless conveyor chainbeneath said table having its upper run beneath and parallel to said.slot, a sprocket under said rails and the adjacent end of said tablearound which said chain passes, a number of flights connected to saidchain and on its upper run extending above the table, said flightshaving reduced necks which on the upper run travel in said slot, saidflights being wider than said slot above the table and passing betweensaid inclined rails at the beginning of their upper run, means fordriving said chain and flights continuously at uniform speed, means forsupplying a continuous row of articles stacks on edge to said inclinedrails, whereby as each flight passes between the rails a definite lengthof the stacked articles will be measured off between it and the nextpreceding flight at the beginning of their upper run, each of saidflights having a horizontal slit extending nearly across it above thetable, and an inclined plow secured to the table and adapted to entersaid slits and push the stacked articles progressively from between theflights as they are carried along the table.

10. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table having alongitudinal slot therein, a pair of inclined rails leading to one endof said table on opposite sides of said slot, an endless conveyor chainbeneath said table having its upper run beneath and parallel to saidslot, a sprocket under said rails and the adjacent end of said tablearound which said chain passes, a number of fli hts connected to saidchain and on its upper run extending above the table, said flightshaving reduced necks which on the upper run travel in said slot, saidflights being wider than said slot above the table and passing betweensaid inclined rails at the beginning of their upper run, means fordriving said chain and flights continuously at uniform speed, means forsupplying a continuous'row of articles stacked on edge to said inclinedrails, whereby as each flight passes between the rails a definite lengthof the stacked articles will be measured oil be tween it and the nextpreceding flight at the beginning of their upper run, each of saidflights having a horizontal slit extending nearly across it above thetable, an inclined plow secured to the table and adapted to enter saidslits and push the stacked. articles progressively from between theflights as they are carried along the table,

and alaterally inclined guide adapted to engage the articles anddisplace them laterally of the flights toward the plow before the plowbecomes operative.

11. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table having alongitudinal slot therein, an

endless chain beneath said table with its upper run adjacent said slot,a number of flights secured to said chain and spaced equidistantthereon, said flights on the upper run extending through said slot andhaving a reduced neck running in said slot, means for supplying stackedarticles to fill the spaces between adjacent flights m above the tableat one end of their upper run, said means including a pair of yieldablewheels spaced apart a distance slightly less than the height of thestacked articles and between which the articles are moved to effecttheir proper spacing and means for driving the chain continuouslywhereby the articles are carried along the table between the flights.

on edge, means for filling the spaces between flights-on the other ofsaid upper runs above the table with single boxes, the flights on, thetwo chains being in alignment, means for driving the chains at equalspeeds, and a fixed camming member arranged angularly to traverse theupper run of said article conveyor to effect a continuous progressivetransfer of said articles from the article conveyor to'the box conveyor.

13. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table, an endlessconveyor beneath the table having its upper run adjacent the table top,a number of flights spaced equidistant on said conveyor and on the upperrun extending through V a slot in said table, means for placing an emptybox between each two flights at the beginning of their upper run abovethe table and means on said flights including a bevelled barbed head toserve the two-fold purpose of holding the box in position and forming anentrance guide to the empty box.

14. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table, an endlessconveyor beneath the table 7 having its upper run adjacent the tabletop, a number of flights spaced equidistant on said conveyor and on theupper run extending through a slot in said table, means for placing anempty box between each two flights at the beginning of their upper runabove the table, each flight having an arrow head at one end providingopposite barbs for receiving lips on the boxes, whereby the barbed headsserve the two-fold purpose of holding the boxes in position and formingan entrance guide to the empty box, and mean for driving the conveyor.

15. In a packaging machine, the combination of a table formed from twoslides spaced apart to provide a slot therebetween, an endless conveyorbeneath said table having a number of box flights thereon which on theupper run extend through said slot, means for placing an empty box onits side between each two flights at the beginning of the upper runwhereby the boxes will be carried along on said slides, a secondconveyor carrying groups of articles along said table parallel to saidfirst conveyor, means for moving said groups of articles from saidsecond conveyor into the respective boxes on the first conveyor, saidslides being of different lengths with the slide that is farthest fromthe second conveyor being shorter and ending at approximately the-pointwhere the groups of articles are moved from the second conveyor, a platebeneath and beyond the end of said shorter side and parallel to saidlonger slide, whereby each filled box as it is carried beyond the end ofthe shorter slide will tilt about the longer slide and drop to the platewith its open side uppermost.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a conveyorfor advancinga col umn of stacked articles in a continuous flow, a pairof yieldable wheels spaced apart a distance slightly less than theheight of said stacked ar ticles between which the articles pass and aremetered from the column, means for driving said wheels at equalperipheral speeds, a second conveyor arranged to segregate and carry offpredetermined amounts of the metered articles, said second conveyoroperating at a linear speed relative to the peripheral speeds of saidwheels such that the space interval between said metered articles ismaintained.

1?. In a machine of the class described, the combination of acontinuously driven conveyor adapted to carry a continuous stack ofarticles, a second conveyor in alignment with said first conveyor,continuously operating means for measuring off unit quantities ofarticles from said first conveyor and placing said quantities in spacedapart relation on said second conveyor, a thirdconveyor parallel to saidsecond conveyor and spaced laterally therefrom, means for supplyingboxes to said third conveyor and spacing them thereon the same distanceapart as quantities of articles on the second conveyor, means fordriving said second and third conveyors continuously and at the samespeed, and means including a fixed member located the second conveyor ina position to engage bias each of said quantities of articlesprogressively therefrom into the box opposed to it on the thirdconveyor;

18. In a machine of the class described, the combination of acontinuously driven conveyor adapted to carry a continuous stack ofarticles, a second conveyor, a continuously driven meteringdevice'receiv'ing articles from said first conveyor and delivering themcontinuously at a definite rate to said second conveyor, means on saidsecond conveyor to separate said articles into groups of definite size,a third conveyor parallel to said second conveyor, means supplying boxesto said third conveyor spaced apart thereon the same distance as saidgroups on said second conveyor, means for driving said second and thirdconveyors in the same direction and at the same speed, and meansincluding a fixed member located adjacent the second conveyor in aposition to engage and bias each group therefrom into a box on the thirdconveyor While said conveyors are travelling at their uniform speeds.

19. In a machine of the class described, the combination of acontinuously driven conveyor adapted to carry a continuous stack ofarticles, a second conveyor having a number of flights thereon, acontinuously driven metering device receiving stacked articles from saidfirst conveyor and delivering them continuously to said second conveyor,means whereby said flights separate said articles into groups ofdefinite size on said second conveyor with each group being between twoadjacent flights, a third conveyor parallel to said second conveyor andhaving a number of box flights thereon, means for placing a box betweeneach two adjacent box flights on said third conveyor with each boxhaving an open side facing toward said second conveyor, the flights onsaid second and third conveyors being spaced the same distance apart andin alignment on the two conveyors, means for driving said second andthird conveyors continuously in the same direction and at the samespeed, and means including a fixed member located adjacent the secondconveyor in a position to engage and bias each group of articles frombetween the flights therefrom laterally of its direction of travel intoan open box between flights on the third conveyor, whereby the boxes arefilled with the articles, and means for removing the filled boxes fromthe third conveyor.

GEORGE H. RHODES. RUDOLPH C. LANG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 699,775 Thom May 13, 19021,064,452 Denmead et a1 June 10, 1913 1,300,763 Parison Apr. 15, 19191,433,328 Wright Oct. 24, 1922 1,467,020 Tzibides Sept. 4, 19231,502,201 Jaeger July 22, 1924 1,627,764 Angeli May 10, 1927 1,628,803Pinter May 17, 1927 1,635,543 Conti July 12, 1927 1,649,639 Wright Nov.15, 1927 2,016,820 Milmore Oct. 8, 1935 2,133,248 Jones Oct. 11, 19382,285,283 Jones June 2, 1942 2,311,577 Rose Feb. 16, 1943

